(Archived) Web Clipper and Evernote 3

[smilla 0]

Why is it that since I installed Evernote 3 I have to run it in order to have the Web Clipper in Firefox to work? Can't I just have the old functionality? I like having as few applications running on my computer as possible since I'm rather limited in memory.

[missdipsy 2]

I think there's two versions of the webclipper (well, 3 if you include the "clip to Evernote" bookmarklet); one clips directly to the Evernote desktop software and one clips to Evernote Web. The Evernote Web one comes as a browser extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8381 (I assume something similar exists for IE), and doesn't require the desktop software to be open. I use the one that clips directly to the web as I, like you, prefer not to launch extra software while browsing (and I actually use Evernote Web much more than the desktop client).

I say "I think" because, to be honest, I do find it a little confusing having multiple "clippers"; the developers should probably explain this better!

[smilla 0]

I had the web clipper extension installed and now it seems to open the evernote desktop application, I tried reinstalling the extension, but still opens the application. Does your web clipper firefox extension still work? (do you also have evernote desktop installed?)

[engberg 89]

If you'd prefer the "Javascript Bookmarklet" clipper that just clips directly to the web service instead of the local desktop app, then I'd recommend just dragging the clipper bookmarklet directly into your Bookmarks bar and use that instead of the integrated clipper icon. You can get that from:

http://www.evernote.com/about/download/#a-webclipper

(The integrated elephant-head clipper tries to a bit more clever ... if it sees that the Windows client is installed on that computer, it tries to clip the note directly to the Windows client, otherwise it does the same thing as the bookmarklet.)

[missdipsy 2]

(The integrated elephant-head clipper tries to a bit more clever ... if it sees that the Windows client is installed on that computer, it tries to clip the note directly to the Windows client, otherwise it does the same thing as the bookmarklet.)

That's strange, I have the desktop client installed, yet the browser extension version of the clipper seems to clip directly to the web. If this is a bug then I'd prefer it if it wasn't fixed, since I'd rather not open the desktop client unecessarily!

[missdipsy 2]

Oddly enough, literally just after posting that I tried to clip something and the desktop client opened! That is the first time I've noticed that happening. I wonder if it could have been something to do with my firewall, since a Zone Alarm warning popped up asking me whether to allow the action; perhaps Zone Alarm has been blocking Evernote without warning me, and some change, either to the Evernote software or my firewall, has triggered a changed blocking policy?

Very strange indeed.

[crane 40]

missdipsy, I use both the regular FF extension (green elephant head) and the bookmarklet that engberg links to above. That way, I can clip to the desktop if I want, or directly to the web version. (Sometimes I find the bookmarklet more useful for one-off clips that I already know the notebook, tags, and comment for. Then I can just use the bookmarklet, feed all the info in one shot, and be done with the note.)

[ejmichel 2]

well, something changed. my clipping USED to open a great little box that would let me pick the notebook to which i wanted the clip to go. something was changed this past weekend.... now it pops up the clipper balloon at the bottom and defaults to the most recent notebook.

i hate that. what happened to the firefox extension? i guess i am going to have to uninstall it all and start over.

also the web clipper is not showing in the system tray.

ugh i hate when things change without warning.

*added... i just disabled the "evernote web clipper" ff extension - but i am annoyed that it was changed. however the ability to add the clip directly to the notebook means more to me than right clicking or selecting the icon to clip.

[engberg 89]

ejmichel -

That's the way the clipper was always supposed to work if you have our Windows client installed ... it passes the note contents directly to your local client without needing to clip to the service first, and then sync that information back down to your computer. This is how it works for most people, but occasionally it breaks during the initial Evernote install and then shifts back to "web only" clipping mode, which clips to the service using Javascript.

If you prefer this behavior, and want to keep the Windows client installed, I'd recommend just using our browser-only "web clipper" bookmarklet, which always clips directly to the service:

http://www.evernote.com/about/download/

[gentk 0]

While I understand that we may use the bookmarklet for the "web" mode, it would be good if we were given the option. i.e. web, desktop, or "clever" mode for the firefox extension. (you can put the elephant icon anywhere in the firefox interface, the bookmarklet takes too much space)

The reason I like the web clipper is that I can quickly type in (just the initial letters and ) the tags right after I clip the selection, which is a lot more intuitive than what you'd need to do with the desktop version. The pop-up when it clips to the desktop client, is useless imo, as the tag assignment menu is a pain for assigning multiple tags.

[evernotedave 0]

Wow - the web clipper is great !!! I didn't realize there were two. I like it better than the other one (which for me does open desktop client).

[coriej 0]

so, just to confirm - we're no longer able to clip directly to a certain notebook? I'd certainly prefer going to the webservice over the desktop application - but its much more useful for me to be able to drop something into the right place, which is how it used to work. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding?

If I hit the clip to evernote button in the browser bar, it still works the way it did. But now if I right-click and choose Add to Evernote, its adding the note to the desktop, in the most recent folder. Which is seldom what I want. Thanks

[engberg 89]

coriej -

When you clip, it will go into the notebook that you've currently selected. This allows you to clip four or five pages in a row without needing to pick the right notebook every time. I.e. you can still pick your preferred notebook, but you do it before you clip, not after.

[coriej 0]

engberg - I'm sorry, I must be slow. But how do I select that notebook? In the past there was a little popup box - but now it just says where its been put.

[engberg 89]

You select the notebook in the main Evernote window, by clicking on it in the left-side panel. Once you've selected this notebook, it will be used for clipping until you choose a different notebook -- even if you close the Evernote widow.

[coriej 0]

and there's no way to get the previous functionality back with the right-click context menu?

[bibliophile 1]

@engberg, thanks for taking the time to explain what's going on here. It seems to me that the problem is that the OLD functionality was very intuitive for certain kinds of tasks, and the NEW functionality is intuitive for others. I would really like to have BOTH options in the single clipper extension (rather than having to keep both the bookmarklet and the elephant head on my browser toolbar).

Advantages of the old functionality:

- I'm on an older computer, so I don't like to run programs in the background unless I have to. For certain tasks, I keep the Evernote software open because I want to be able to clip from a variety of sources (screenshots, camera, web, etc.). But often I simply browsing the web and see something I want to clip. It would be nice to just click the elephant head and have it clip to the web version without having to go through the extra step of opening the E3 software and then closing it again afterward.

- Also, even if I didn't mind opening the software in this case, the clip goes automatically into the active notebook rather than giving me a choice. So now I have to go into the E3 software interface and drag my clip to the appropriate notebook. With the java clipper, at least I could choose the notebook on the pop-up. The local software needs to have this option on the popup (in addition to the tags button, etc.) so that the user can do this obvious task in a single step.

Advantages of the new functionality:

- When I'm clipping a bunch of stuff at once for the same project, it is nice to have Evernote default to the active notebook and quickly store the stuff on my computer. Recently I've been planning a trip to Barcelona, so I made a "Barcelona" notebook in the E3 software and filed all of my web research there with a single, easy click of the elephant head. This was really nice (but only for this kind of project).

Here's one idea for implementation: Put a little arrow dropdown on the elephant button with options for "Clip to Evernote Web" or "Clip to Evernote Local" (or some such wording). Then have a setting in the background that lets the user choose which of those is the default behavior for clicking the elephant. If the user wants the non-default behavior, she can choose from the dropdown. (Even more sophisticated: let the default behavior be determined by whether the Evernote software is actually OPEN, not just installed. If I want to clip locally, which is faster, then I'll make sure my Evernote software is open in the background. If I prefer to use the web, I'll keep the software closed. The drop-down would still be available if I decide I want to have the extension open the software and store the clip locally for me.)

In any case, we really need that "change notebook" option of the software's pop-up notification. And I think the kind of implementation described above would be much more user-friendly than the alternative of keeping both a bookmarklet and an elephant head on my browser bar.

Thanks for listening! I love the product and hope it continues to get better and better!

[missdipsy 2]

Here's one idea for implementation: Put a little arrow dropdown on the elephant button with options for "Clip to Evernote Web" or "Clip to Evernote Local" (or some such wording). Then have a setting in the background that lets the user choose which of those is the default behavior for clicking the elephant. If the user wants the non-default behavior, she can choose from the dropdown. (Even more sophisticated: let the default behavior be determined by whether the Evernote software is actually OPEN, not just installed. If I want to clip locally, which is faster, then I'll make sure my Evernote software is open in the background. If I prefer to use the web, I'll keep the software closed. The drop-down would still be available if I decide I want to have the extension open the software and store the clip locally for me.)

I really like this idea - best of both worlds!